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Non–Radioactive Photobiotin–Labeled Probes Detect Single Copy Genes and Low Abundance mRNA

Abstract

We show that the non–radioactive reagent, photobiotin, can replace the use of radioactivity in preparing gene probes for Southern, Northern and DNA dot–blot analyses. Using a photobiotin–labeled probe, the single copy human metallothionein IIA (MT IIA) gene is readily detected in genomic DNA by Southern transfer. Similarly, low abundance chicken histone H5 mRNA is easily detected in total cytoplasmic RNA isolated from an erythroleukemic cell line by Northern analysis. Finally, a photobiotin–labeled fragment of the pig growth hormone gene is used to detect the presence of this gene in transgenic mice by dot–blot analysis.

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McInnes, J., Dalton, S., Vize, P. et al. Non–Radioactive Photobiotin–Labeled Probes Detect Single Copy Genes and Low Abundance mRNA. Nat Biotechnol 5, 269–272 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0387-269

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